By way of background concerning spinal cord injuries, it is noted that spinal cord injury patients often report an inability to feel their body as well as they had prior to their injury. Stimulating the regeneration of axons is often a goal of spinal cord repair since such regeneration increases the chances for recovering function. Namely, reconnecting any axon in the injured spinal cord increases the chances for recovery of function.
Research on many fronts, however, reveals that regenerating axons after injury is a complicated task. For instance, although neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) have the capacity to regenerate, the environment in the adult spinal cord does not encourage such growth. Not only does the spinal cord lack growth-promoting molecules present in the developing CNS, it also includes substances that actively inhibit axon extension. Indeed, the environment of the adult CNS is particularly hostile to axon growth because growth-inhibiting proteins are embedded in myelin, the insulating material around axons. It is believed that these proteins preserve neural circuits in healthy spinal cords and keep intact axons from growing inappropriately. But when the spinal cord is injured, these proteins prevent regeneration.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a methodology for treating spinal cord injuries which overcomes these limitations. To this end, it should be noted that the above-described deficiencies are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional systems, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with the state of the art and corresponding benefits of some of the various non-limiting embodiments may become further apparent upon review of the following detailed description.